Tropical Cake

Listen guys, Spring has sprung and that means bright vibrant colors and flavors. I am not the baker of the two of us so this is a hella short cut move to make the most scrumptious Spring cake. It has the zip of citrus, and the tropical flavors I adored on my recent spring break trip to Costa Rica with the mango, guava and coconut.  With all this deliciousness, perhaps now I wont stop at the cupcake place on my walk home from work. This hits my baked goodness craving pretty well!

  • 1 Box of Duncan Hines lemon cake mix (Per box instructions 1 cup water, 1/3 vegetable oil and 3 eggs)
  • 1 can mango slices (hmpf, don’t hate. It’s not warm enough yet for fresh. I don’t live in Mexico, but if you do, then by all means rock some fresh fruit)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut

Glaze:

  • Half the jar of guava jam
  • Zest of two lemons
  • Juice of two lemons

Mix well

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the oil, water, 3 eggs, shredded coconut, and cake mix. Spray pan well with nonstick spray. Coat the bottom of your 9″ pan with the glaze and the mango slices. Pour cake batter over the glaze, kind of like one would do for a pineapple upside down cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Flip cooled cake on to serving dish. (Aint nothing wrong with a couple of shakes of powdered suga for presentation purposes and well, um, yumminess!)

Tropical Cake

Happy Eating, XO.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts

IMG_8285

Fall produce is my favorite! The veggies are just amazing and although most people associate salad with Summer, Fall has some legit salad options. This one is great with some pan seared chicken or fish as a meal, or can be great as a side. Let’s face it, you have to eat some lighter meals in the cooler months to offset the casseroles, desserts, comfort foods, etc. Hope you enjoy the dressing & can use it on multiple salads, like a cold noodle one like good ole Chrissy Teigen makes on her blog. Because who doesn’t want to eat, act, look like her! haha.

  • 1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
  • 1 tablespoon miso
  • 1 tablespoon water**
  • 1 orange (4 tablespoons fresh orange juice)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon honey
  • ½-3/4 cup pecan halves

Sauté the BS shavings for one minute (no joke, not a second more) with EVOO and the lemon juice of 1 of the lemons. Then shake up/whisk the remaining ingredients and lemon juice into a vinegarette. (**Thin out w/ water if you want a lighter consistency)

Happy Eating, XO.